I got back
from skiing at dawn, eyes and ‘’V’’ scarf all frosted with hair looking older
from the fresh breeze of the evening. I started skiing with my head in a damp
cloud, without a camera, and armed with a head lamp as the dark was slowly
coming up me.

The glide
was perfect, the air was pure, and I could hear the sound of my poles’ baskets
screeching on the dry snow. The big cloud was starting to fade away as Cendrine
and I were getting deeper and deeper into the forest where trees wearing their
whitest coat were standing as straight and tall as soldiers.

Magnificent.
Every glide was simply magic.

The trail
was leading us to a higher altitude. At a certain moment, clouds gave way for a
dark blue sky turning slowly into black. The path lead us to an opening where
trees were more scattered.

Even though
I had my head lamp that was slowly losing energy as we were going, a more
intense glow illuminated the white matte of the snow and the tip of the trees.

And as if
coming out of nowhere, a tiger-ish moon appeared, that had orange tints above a
sea of clouds. We could even have a glimpse of some stars’ sparks. The Big
Dipper projected over the mountain.

Cendrine
and I took some time to contemplate the view. There was nowhere else in the
world I’d rather been at that precise moment. I was simply appreciating the
beauty that my sport gives me.

At a
certain altitude on our way down to where home is, we were back in the grey
humid heap that kept us from seeing where we were heading as my lamp had
stopped working. We were gliding and more or less fumbling when the colourful
lights of the Silver Star village reminded us we were at the right place.

I came
home, with a smile hung on my face!

Unfortunately
I didn’t have any camera to picture the moment. Let yourself be guided by your
imagination, I am sure many images will come up to your mind!